About

The MIT Jameel Clinic AI & Health Summer High School Bootcamp is a one-week, non-residential program on the MIT campus in Cambridge, Massachusetts, running July 13–17, 2026. Open to incoming sophomores, juniors, and seniors, it immerses students in artificial intelligence and machine learning as applied to healthcare — a convergence that sits at the center of MIT's current research agenda and one of the most consequential frontiers in medicine. The program operates Monday through Friday with at least seven hours of instruction and enrichment activities per day. It is commuter-only; MIT does not provide housing or transportation, and does not sponsor visas.

The faculty profile is the program's most distinctive asset. Regina Barzilay, the AI faculty lead, is a Distinguished Professor of AI and Health who received a MacArthur "Genius" Grant in 2017; her research spans machine learning for clinical applications, drug discovery, and natural language processing. Phillip Sharp, the Advisory Board Chair, is an MIT Institute Professor and 1993 Nobel Laureate in Physiology or Medicine. Collin Stultz is both a Principal Investigator at the Jameel Clinic and a practicing cardiologist at Massachusetts General Hospital. Harvard Medical School faculty from MGH Radiology round out the instructor list. Students encounter this faculty not through a recorded lecture series but in person on MIT's campus — an access point that is genuinely unusual for a high school program.

The curriculum is structured around four required courses delivered across the week. Intro to Machine Learning in Health covers foundational AI and ML theory and their health applications. The Python Tutorial is split into beginner and advanced tracks based on incoming skill level. Intro to Clinical AI examines how AI tools function in clinical settings, their risks in deployment, and their potential to reduce clinician workload and improve early diagnosis. Intro to Drug Discovery addresses how AI is compressing the time and cost of pharmaceutical development — a field where 90 percent of drug candidates fail clinical trials and successful development historically costs around $1 billion per drug. Students work in groups throughout the week on projects that culminate in a final presentation evaluated by instructors. Field trips to neighboring institutions — in past years including Massachusetts General Hospital, Amgen, and Janssen Pharmaceuticals — extend the curriculum into the Kendall Square biotech ecosystem that surrounds MIT. Students who complete the program successfully receive a signed certificate.

Tuition is $2,000 for 2026, a change from prior years when the program was free; the shift reflects a growing applicant pool and expanded program support. Need-blind scholarships are available and cover the full cost of tuition for eligible students — documentation of enrollment in a qualifying low-income program, or a letter from a school counselor or community leader explaining financial need, is required. Financial aid does not affect admission. Applications for 2026 were due January 11 (Early Action) and March 1 (Regular); decisions for Regular applicants began at the end of March. Cohort size in prior years has been approximately 50 students; past students who have already completed the program are not eligible to reapply.

The Jameel Clinic bootcamp is one of the very few high school programs that places students in direct contact with active Nobel laureates and MacArthur Fellows in a field — AI and health — where the research being discussed in the classroom is the research being conducted in the building next door. One week is not long enough to produce a research credential, and the commuter format limits its reach to students who can arrange housing in Cambridge independently. Within those constraints, it delivers an unusually concentrated introduction to a field that will define the next generation of medicine.