# Characteristics of COVID-19 in transgender people

> **NIH NIH R01** · EMORY UNIVERSITY · 2023 · $208,032

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
Transgender people may be disproportionally affected by the coronavirus infection disease 2019 (COVID-19)
pandemic because they may face barriers to timely care and because of the possible effect of gender-affirming
HT on COVID-19 disease severity. Based on these considerations, the overall goal of the proposed
administrative supplement will be to collect and analyze additional data to characterize the COVID-19 epidemic
in different subgroups of STRONG cohort members relative to matched cisgender controls.
The proposed administrative supplement will include additional data collection for the ongoing parent project
“An expanded national cohort study of transgender people” (R01AG066956). The five-year parent project,
which is now in its second year, represents an expansion of the previously established Study of Transition,
Outcomes and Gender (STRONG). STRONG is a cohort of transgender people enrolled in Kaiser Permanente
(KP) integrated health care plans in Georgia, Northern California, Southern California, and the Mid-Atlantic
States. The expanded cohort includes approximately 40,000 transgender persons matched with 800,000 male
and female cisgender referents. We will use additional STRONG data to compare rates and types of COVID-
19 vaccination in transmasculine (TM) and transfeminine (TF) persons to cisgender controls, examine the
incidence of the disease among transgender and cisgender individuals and investigate if transgender status,
receipt of hormone therapy, and levels of hormones, play a role in COVID-19 severity. A unique feature of the
proposed analysis is that it considers both the biological variable of sex as well as the social, environmental,
cultural, and behavioral factors that define gender – a distinction clearly outlined in the Trans-NIH Strategic
Plan.
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## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10757115
- **Project number:** 3R01AG066956-03S1
- **Recipient organization:** EMORY UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Michael Goodman
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2023
- **Award amount:** $208,032
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2021-09-15 → 2026-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10757115

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10757115, Characteristics of COVID-19 in transgender people (3R01AG066956-03S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10757115. Licensed CC0.

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