Covid-19 fuels explosion of student interest in public health at Central New York colleges Updated 8:00 AM; Facebook Share It also inspired Nnam to choose public health as one of her majors. “The pandemic played a big role in my decision,” said Nnam, who is from Chicago. “It made me want to be part of public health.” Nnam is part of a tidal wave of students nationwide motivated by the pandemic to study public health, a multi-disciplinary field focused on preventing disease and injury. Syracuse University freshman Zikora Nnam is one of many students inspired by the Covid-19 pandemic to study public health.Provided photo