It is concerning to me to center science on what are "the problems of our time". Take "infectious diseases", I doubt that topic would have been included in 2019. Of course COVID changed what is a problem of our time. But what is next? If there is a nuclear incident, does nuclear physics become the problem of our time? If a startup clones humans, does genetic research become the problem of our time?

Teach the fundamentals, give students the tools to asses for themselves what the problems are, and how to best approach understanding them.