Prof. Xu is the Vice Director of Key Laboratory of Acupuncture and Medicine Research of Ministry of Education since 2008 and the leader of 2nd clinical (acupunture) college of Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine.
He has engaged in the mechanism of acupuncture for more than 20 years. His research interest is in the area of neurophysiology mechanism of acupuncture. Specific research topics include the neurophysiology mechanism of acupuncture for functional gastrointestinal disorders and obesity. He has published 9 books as chief-editor or co-editor, and over 180 peer-reviewed journal papers. His research has supported by over 11 grants from national and provincial government.
Prof. Xu is the Director of the Clinical Division of China Association of Acupuncture-moxibustion(2012-2017) and a Member of Academic committee of China Association of Acupuncture-moxibustion(2011-2016). He served as a member of the expert reviewers in acupuncture of the Textbook Project of the Ministry of Health "Twelfth Five Year plan" in 2011.