Chang Xu works and teaches on early modern Chinese history. She is particularly interested in the global history of medicine, the history of military science and technologies, the interconnections between human and non-human bodies, and the interplay between individual bodily experience and governmental management.

She is currently working on her first book, Medicine on the March: Military Institutions, Medical Networks, and the Qing Empire, 1644-1800. This project offers a social, cultural, and institutional history of medical practices in garrisons during the period of Qing territorial expansion. By incorporating the military regime into the history of medicine, it highlights aspects of medicine in early modern China pertinent to non-elite practitioners, compound medicines, and collective healing. Her other ongoing projects explore Euro-Asian medical exchanges, medical and religious cultures, Manchu medical texts, and legal disputes concerning medical practices in China.