Eight high school students have been learning about public health first-hand this summer as part of the Harvard School of Public Health Summer Minority Research Apprenticeship Program (RAP).

This year’s RAP program, organized by Human Resources, ran from July 8 to August 23. Now in its 18th year, the program is open to minority high school students who are 15 years old or older and will be sophomores, juniors, or seniors in the fall. Candidates must possess a demonstrated interest in the health sciences and related research. Boston residency or attendance at a Boston city school is required.

This year’s group of interns took part in a range of public health research projects. Ha Tien Le, 16, worked in the lab of David Christiani of the Departments of Environmental Health and Epidemiology, helping to analyze human arsenic exposure.

Jenny Ruan, 17, worked with Sue Goldie of the Department of Health Policy and Management on evaluating interventions for the sexually transmitted disease human papillomavirus.

"It was a really good experience," said Ruan.

Ngozi Anidi, 16, was mentored by Rick Rogers of the Department of Environmental Health. Anidi helped analyze fat tissue from mice deficient in a hormone called leptin. She said the work has helped her think about the public health aspects of lab-based research.

Victor Maldonado, 15, also worked with Rogers, learning about microscopy.

Pei Huang, 16, assisted Ted Becker in the Harvard Occupational Biomechanics Laboratory, directed by Jack Dennerlein of the Department of Environmental Health. Huang helped test the relationship between typing and muscle movements in peoples’ arms.

Lai Nguyen, 17, was mentored by Laura McCloskey of the Department of Maternal and Child Health, investigating how domestic violence affects health.

Julene Fleurmond, 16, worked with Michelle Samplin-Salgado of the Harvard Center for Cancer Prevention on a web site dealing with teen health issues.

John Howard, 16, assisted Cait Des Roches of the Department of Health Policy and Management, researching healthy policy and health care reform issues. He spent much of his time creating a computerized database of research findings.

For more information about the RAP program, visit http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/hr/RAP.htm.