Her research focus is the intersection among economic anthropology, urban studies, and critical infrastructure studies. She is especially interested in how the home—as an object of attachment, a condition of social reproduction, and a residential property—mediate capital accumulation and urban governance in contemporary China. Her teaching interests at Duke Kunshan include Cultural Anthropology, Social Science, and Cultures and Societies.

She is the author of an ethnographic monograph, Anxious Homes: Inflexible Demand and China's Housing Market (Cornell University Press, 2026), and has had papers published in leading academic journals including Urban Studies, Positions: Asia Critique, and the Journal of Cultural Economy.

Wang has a B.A. in Chinese and Economics from Beijing Normal University, China; and an M.A. in anthropology from Brandeis University and a Ph.D. from Brandeis University.