Michio Painter

Michio Painter is the Head of the Translational Medicine Accelerator at the University of Zurich in Switzerland. He previously served as Chief Science Partner at Ataraxia VC, where he targeted pre-seed to Series A life science investments ranging from $50,000 to $1,000,000. During his tenure, he directed capital into early-stage biotechnology and healthtech startups, leading a $1,000,000 seed round for FimmCyte and participating in a $3,000,000 seed round for AOA. Before entering venture capital, Painter was the co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Blue Therapeutics, a Boston-based company developing central nervous system compounds. He completed his doctorate at Harvard University under an NRSA fellowship and conducted postdoctoral research as an HHMI fellow at the Harvard Stem Cell Institute. His career centers on advancing early-stage life sciences research across immunology, neuroscience, and aging into commercial medical applications.