Chenghui Zhang specializes in criminology, bias crime, racial/ethnic inequalities, and quantitative methods. Her research explores how social structure influences crime and crime reporting behaviors, with a specific focus on how social inequalities affect perceptions of and reactions to bias crimes. Methodologically, Zhang employs survey experiments to obtain first-hand data as an alternative to official statistics and applies advanced statistical methods and machine learning techniques to reveal how social inequalities manifest in crime experiences and crime reporting behaviors. Her work has been published in various journals and outlets, such as the Journal of Experimental Criminology, Race and Social Problems, and Refugees and Migrants in Law and Policy. Zhang has also been recognized with awards from the American Society of Criminology (ASC), Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences (ACJS), and grant funding from the National Institute of Justice (NIJ).

Chenghui Zhang joined the Department of Sociology at UNLV in 2022 after obtaining her Ph.D. in Sociology at the University of Kentucky. She holds a LL.M. in Jurisprudence from Tongji University and an active legal profession qualification in China (China BAR).