By: Meredith Lidard Kleeman
As a kid, Michael Ostap, PhD, built circuits and motors in the basement of his childhood home. His father, an electrical engineer, encouraged him to explore the jumble of electrical components that covered every surface. “Having that ability to sit and tinker with things drove me to look for opportunities to build and learn and explore,” Ostap said.
Since growing up and launching a prolific scientific career, Ostap has spent the last three decades researching different motors—tiny ones, in the human body. His work focuses on molecular motors called myosin, the protein within cells that makes muscles contract. “They really are motors—they use chemical energy to do mechanical work,” he said.
During his 27 years at the University of Pennsylvania, Ostap has published over 100 papers investigating how molecules such as myosin feel force, in an effort to understand how cellular mutations cause disease. He’s enthusiastic about thoughtful, rigorous science, and frequently describes his research and basic scientific processes as “exciting” and “fun.” That palpable enthusiasm, in addition to a deep commitment to education and training, made Ostap an ideal candidate to fill the role of interim senior vice dean and chief scientific officer (CSO) of the Perelman School of Medicine earlier this year.
“Mike knows good science when he sees it, and knows how to make good science even better,” said Jonathan A. Epstein, MD, who held the role prior to his own appointment as interim dean of the Perelman School of Medicine and executive vice president of the University for the Health System, in December 2023.
Ostap honed his leadership skills during his 14 years as the director of the Pennsylvania Muscle Institute, an interdisciplinary group of Penn Medicine researchers that’s supported by funding from the National Institutes of Health. Current funding includes a $7.4 million collaborative grant from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences focused on mitochondrial transport.
As the CSO, Ostap will support the medical school’s scientific community by overseeing the operational, planning, and financial responsibilities of all research and research training activities. He has been on a listening tour within the organization and has observed the results of the widespread dedication to rigorous science. “It has really been eye opening to see the excellence and to really see people’s efforts pay off in big ways—in research grants, in therapies, and new ideas and innovations,” Ostap said.
Advancing cellular research
The Ostap Laboratory that he has led since 1997 has made strides in the fundamental science behind how a myosin feels force. By understanding how proteins work, researchers can discover small molecules that could affect other functions in the body. Ostap’s lab is currently working on projects related to cardiac function, exploring how mutations in the myosin affect mechanical and biochemical properties of the heart, “which will hopefully lead us to a better understanding of how mutations lead to cardiac disease,” he said.
Ostap is fascinated by how the different types of myosin (there’s nearly 40 in humans) have evolved. “Some are super-fast like race cars, some are super-strong like a dump truck, and some are built for carrying heavy loads. It’s really interesting to figure out how proteins that have such similar sequences can have different functions,” he said.
One of the lab’s state-of-the-art techniques to study myosin and other proteins includes trapping particles in space with the use of a concentrated laser beam. “Just like in ‘Star Trek,’ where the ship shoots out a laser beam and captures another ship, we can capture something with light,” he said. “It is like science fiction, but we’re doing it one molecule at a time. We’re using laser beams to hold particles in space, and because of the way that laser beams work, we can actually measure forces from single molecules.”
Championing diversity
In addition to his research, Ostap has been a champion for highlighting the diverse individuals who make up the school of medicine’s vibrant scientific community. In 2020, Epstein recruited Ostap to serve as a co-chair of the Perelman School of Medicine Portrait Review Committee alongside Marisa Bartolomei, PhD, a cell and developmental biology professor. The committee’s goal is to improve representation on the walls of the medical school. “Showing the true diversity of the university strengthens our institution and fosters innovation by ensuring that there’s a big range of prospective research and life experience—we want to make sure the walls show that,” Ostap said.
Ostap is also passionate about increasing opportunities for early-career scientists and is committed to nurturing a diverse workforce. The Ostap Laboratory regularly welcomes young researchers from the summer undergraduate internship program run by the Center for Engineering MechanoBiology, a multi-institutional network funded by the National Science Foundation. “The more we can do to expose young people to the research enterprise, the better we’ll be.”
As CSO, he also hopes to emphasize the importance of work-life balance for faculty, staff, and trainees. Along with his wife, he has raised four “amazingly wonderful kids” during his career at the university, who all share his love of hiking, backpacking, and skiing. “It’s very important that we take care of families as well as research careers,” Ostap said.
“I think it’s really important that the School of Medicine is focused on early career mentorship, to help young faculty understand what’s important for their career, and what’s important for getting tenure and how to balance that with their everyday life,” he added. Most departments have robust mentorship programs designed for that purpose: “There’s opportunities to improve that, but I think Penn’s really on the right track and doing a good job.”
The scientific method
Ostap is enjoying his new role and is deploying his background as a researcher to investigate and learn more about the strengths of the Perelman School of Medicine. “I'm actually having a lot of fun!” he said. “There’s so much that I don’t know and so much that I’m learning.”
Meeting and interacting with new recruits, as well as the administration and facilities teams that run Penn Medicine’s research programs, has been a highlight. “I knew how wonderful our people are, but now I get to see how many of them there are—I had no idea,” Ostap said.
The feeling among the school community is mutual. “Only months into this job, I’ve heard from so many who are excited about Mike’s expanded role in the Perelman School of Medicine,” Epstein said. “He has been incredibly thoughtful in taking the time to understand what people are concerned by and what they are excited about in their work, collaborations, and the future of science.”