In March 2025, I received a form letter notifying me that one of our research grants had been terminated—effective immediately. The stated reason? “Research programs based on gender identity are often unscientific, have little identifiable return on investment, and do nothing to enhance the health of many Americans.”
As a professor of speech, language, and hearing sciences at Boston University, I have spent my career conducting research to improve the clinical care of individuals with communication disorders and differences. My lab’s work has been supported continuously by the National Institutes of Health since 2012, thanks in part to early funding from the ASHFoundation. These awards undergo rigorous review by panels of scientists and clinicians and receive oversight from clinical and scientific councils. In fact, in 2019, the first Trump administration recognized our work with the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers.
So, what changed?
The terminated grant focused on investigating speech production in transgender speakers during the first year of testosterone therapy—a common first-line intervention and an essential element of gender-affirming care. Our study was carefully designed and included hormonal assays, laryngeal endoscopic imaging, aerodynamic and acoustic measures, 3D scanning, and magnetic resonance imaging. The sudden cancellation, four years into a five-year study, disrupted this process and jeopardized the value of the time, effort, and resources already invested.
Importantly, although the project centered on understanding why testosterone affects some transgender individuals differently than others, its implications extend beyond this community. The methodologies we developed are advancing knowledge about a wide range of voice and speech disorders. These include common issues like vocal fold nodules and Parkinson’s-related speech changes, as well as rare conditions such as spasmodic dysphonia. Our discoveries also hold promise for millions of Americans with voice changes due to other etiologies such as aging, injury, cancer, smoking, or paralysis.
The loss of this research is not just about innovation. The termination also harms the undergraduate, master’s, doctoral, and postdoctoral trainees in my lab. I am watching an entire generation of future educators and scientists become discouraged by the instability of research funding. And we are not alone. According to a 2025 report from the Association of American Medical Colleges, 2,282 research grants were terminated that year alone due to perceived links to topics or ideologies disfavored by the current administration.
That is why it is more important than ever to support organizations stepping in to fill these gaps. Many of us view the ASHFoundation as a vital launching pad—providing seed funding that allows researchers to secure larger federal grants. But today, another role has become equally critical: serving as a funding source for important, innovative research that may fall outside the priorities of any administration.
By showing up and releasing additional funding in times of uncertainty, the ASHFoundation is helping ensure that essential research continues—and that our professions can meet the needs of individuals affected by communication disorders.
Cara Stepp, PhD, is a Professor of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences at Boston University. She began her research career by receiving an ASHFoundation New Investigators Research Grant. Her research program centers on improving the assessment and treatment of sensorimotor disorders of voice and speech and contributing to the understanding of the relationships among neural control of movement, physiology, self-perception, acoustics, and listener auditory-perception of voice and speech.