Local 12 News: Developing an app could help transgender people struggling with their voices
UC faculty member’s research looks to assist gender diverse and transgender individuals
Vesna Dominika Novak, PhD, associate professor in UC’s College of Engineering and Applied Science, spoke with Local 12 News about her research now available in the Journal of Voice. It shows the results of a 57-question survey of 21 transgender and gender diverse individuals focusing on voice, technology app usage, surgery, training and gender expression and identity. Transgender and gender diverse people may benefit from better-designed smartphone apps which offer voice and communication training software that help lessen voice-gender incongruence for individuals.
Novak told Local 12 News that for some individuals the motivation to change their voice is an internal desire. “They say, ‘Oh I don’t like the way I sound, I want to change it.’ And some people it is external and they say, ‘I don’t care how I sound but other people judge me for the way I sound so I want to change this.’”
Listen to the interview on Local 12 News online.
Learn more about research from Vesna Novak, PhD, online.
Featured image is courtesy of Unsplash.
Related Stories
UC team wins first place in 2026 National Association of Home Builders student competition
April 3, 2026
UC construction management and DAAP students won first place in the 2026 NAHB production home build competition with an interdisciplinary, real-world community proposal.
UC design student works with sports greats in co-op
April 2, 2026
Spectrum News profiles UC College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning communication design student Jayden Balwally, who had an internship with the Oklahoma City Thunder and worked with the Heisman Trophy Trust and the College Football Playoff.
UC names Suzanne Judd, PhD, as inaugural director of new Center for Public Health
April 2, 2026
Following an extensive national search, the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine has appointed Suzanne E. Judd, PhD, as the inaugural director of its newly established Center for Public Health. Judd, a renowned epidemiologist and interdisciplinary scholar, will lead the center’s mission to transform community health through innovative research, education and strategic advocacy.