Chhavi Sachdev

What are the best ways to stop the spread of infectious diseases? One key element is diagnostics. For diseases like tuberculosis, there are millions of people unaware that they have the disease. So, improving diagnostic tests and making them accessible are critical.

Thankfully, new scientific breakthroughs could dramatically improve rapid TB diagnostic tests. These tools may soon transform countries like India, where the toll of TB looms large.
Reporting from Mumbai, India, journalist Chhavi Sachdev reports on a new network that vets tools and helps test and scale them.

Last week attempts at cloud seeding to reduce pollution in Delhi failed to produce any rain. We catch up with reporter Chhavi Sachdev to find out more about official’s latest and controversial attempt at tacking hazardous levels of air pollution in the city.

The Maldives have become the first country to ban smoking for younger generations with no one born on or after 1 January 2007 being able to buy tobacco products.

What do the public know about the cancer risks of alcohol? Dr Sanjay Shete explains his research comparing the real risks to public awareness.

Tuberculosis claimed more than 1.25 million lives in 2023, overtaking COVID as the world’s deadliest infectious disease. For the last century, there has been a vaccine protecting children from TB. Now, there is hope for a new solution: a potential vaccine for adolescents and adults.

On this episode of The Threshold, journalist Chhavi Sachdev interviews Soumya Swaminathan, principal advisor on tuberculosis for the health ministry of India and former World Health Organization chief scientist, about what is needed to end TB as an epidemic

In one of the poorest neighbourhoods of Mumbai, a quiet transformation is underway. Govandi has long been associated with poverty and poor health outcomes. But with the help of a civic organisation, the community has built vibrant spaces with children and women in mind— libraries, workshops, and leisure zones—defying the norms of city planning that can overlook such needs. We explore how trust, persistence, and grassroots collaboration turned a neglected area into a model for urban resilience and enjoyment.
Presenter: Myra Anubi
Reporter/producer: Chhavi Sachdev
Editor: Jon Bithrey

Milk: drink a lot of it and we’ll grow big and tall with strong bones. That’s what many people are told as children, but just how true is this accepted wisdom? CrowdScience listener JJ in Singapore is sceptical. He wants to live a healthy life for as long as possible, and he’s wondering whether drinking cow’s milk will help or hinder him on this mission.

Presenter Chhavi Sachdev the lowdown on just how fundamental this is for our health.

All mammals produce milk, and our mother’s milk is our very first drink as babies. Is it really good for bones? longevity? Listen!

In India, how can gorgeous flowers offered in a temple or gathered to decorate a wedding be an environmental problem? Chhavi Sachdev discovers that the practice of disposing of the spent flowers, thousands of tonnes of the them daily, into rivers and lakes causes major pollution and literally suffocates waterborne life. The problem is made worse by the fact that the flowers are sprayed with pesticides in the field so are yet more toxic when discarded. Listen to know about an innovative scheme, to dry the flowers and return them to the worship cycle ;)

A gene has been identified that is critical for regulating pain signals. Professor David Bennett, head of Clinical Neurology at Oxford, who led the research explains.

BBC Africa’s health correspondent Dorcas Wangira joins Claudia to delve into a decade-long research programme that found child mortality rates almost halved when poorer families in Kenya were given $1000 unconditionally.

Chhavi Sachdev follows up on previous reporting in India about rabies after a government efforts to curtail rising rabies infections from stray dog bites has caused mass uproar.

It’s been pouring for four days now, and shows no sign of stopping. The laundry is CrowdScience listener Rit, from Pune in India, is worried about the effect it’s having on the environment, and on agriculture. When it rains like this, the animals suffer, and the crops are destroyed.
Presenter Chhavi Sachdev is also sitting in a downpour at home in Mumbai. She dons her rain jacket and rubber boots to try and find out whether science can help Rit with his question. From controlling the clouds in India, to bringing rain to the deserts of the UAE, to firing high-powered lasers into the skies above

As millions are mislabelled, a new study suggests ways to improve accuracy that would improve patient outcomes and fight antimicrobial resistance.

Penicillin is the go-to antibiotic for many common infections - but in the UK more than 1-in-15 adults have a penicillin allergy label on their medical record.

A passionate debate has caused division in Maharashtra, India, over the possibility of homeopaths being allowed to practice and prescribe conventional medicine. Reporter Chhavi Sachdev explains why doctors on both sides are striking.

This week, a new report into the dangers that sand and dust storms pose to the world's health and economy has inspired Caroline Steel with panelists Chhavi Sachdev & Candice Bailey to delve in the science of dust.

First, we look at the report by the World Meteorological Organisation and hear about what can be done to mitigate the dangers of dust.

We also find out the surprising way in which the Sahara is keeping the Amazon rainforest well-fed, and Derek Fabel tells us how dust can help us to determine the age of glaciers.

Plus, the dusty maths that took 15 years to solve

Shipping containers are a staple of global trade, helping in the transport of all sorts of goods by sea across the world. But their relatively cheap cost and sturdy structure lends them to many other purposes. In this episode we visit a school for poorer children created out of shipping containers that sits in the middle of a busy intersection in Thane, India with Chhavi Sachdev. And we look at a start-up business in the UK that uses shipping containers to store carbon captured from the air in the production of building materials.

Around the world, scientists and entrepreneurs are pouring billions into researching new ways of storing carbon dioxide. We look at a scheme in India to put CO2 in rocks and research in the UK using kelp. Will either of them be effective?

Host Graihagh Jackson dives into the waters off Britain's southern coast to find out more about the magical powers of kelp, while Chhavi Sachdev visits a tea plantation in Darjeeling which is hoping to diversify into carbon sequestration.

The Christian celebration of Easter got us thinking about egg-related science.
First up, we find out about the rise of a vegan egg substitute.
Next, we discover how to cook the perfect boiled egg, according to science.
We then turn our attention to climate change, and find out how it is affecting the breeding patterns and nesting behaviour of sea turtles.
Plus, we are joined by Dr Luis Welbanks, who tells us about a nearby exoplanet that reeks of rotten eggs.
All that, plus many more Unexpected Elements.
Presenter: Marnie Chesterton, with Chhavi Sachdev and Sandy Ong

Reporter Chhavi Sachdev in Mumbai has some good news – an indigenous antibiotic breakthrough has been found to be effective at treating antibiotic resistant pneumonia. We hear what it takes to develop a new antibiotic and what makes Nafithromycin such a ground-breaking discovery.
Has the long-standing mystery of which wild animals form a reservoir of mpox in the wild finally been solved? Some scientists think they have cracked the case, pinpointing the fire-footed rope squirrel as the culprit, but questions remain before we can definitively say this species is to blame.

CrowdScience listener Sid is running late, and he’s turning to science to find an excuse. He and his partner Steffi in Singapore have very different attitudes to timekeeping. They wonder if this is down to their different cultural upbringings, or if they just had very different brains to start with.

Presenter Chhavi Sachdev puts her own time perception skills to the test to try to understand how subjective our sense of time can be. And we discover how the language we grow up speaking can influence the way we think about punctuality.

Presenter: Chhavi Sachdev
Producer: Emily Bird