Andrew Crislip's research focuses on the history of Christianity in late antiquity, particularly focusing on monasticism and medicine in Egypt and Coptic papyrology - the edition and interpretation of texts preserved on papyrus, parchment, ostraca, and wood. His first book, From Monastery to Hospital: Christian Monasticism and the Transformation of Health Care in Late Antiquity appeared in 2005 (University of Michigan Press), and explores the intersection between asceticism and healing in several late ancient monastic communities in Egypt and the ancient Mediterranean world. Professor Crislip has published widely in such journals as the Journal of Biblical Literature, Harvard Theological Review, and Zeitschrift fur Papyrologie und Epigraphik, and has received numerous awards and fellowships.

Some recent publications include "Lion and Human in Gospel of ThomasLogion 7," JBL 125 (2007): 595-613; '"I Have Chosen Sickness': The Controversial Function of Sickness in Christian Ascetic Practice," in Asceticism and its Critics, edited by Oliver Freilberger (New York: Oxford University Press, (2006), 179-209; "A Coptic Request for Materia Medica," ZPE 157 (2006): 165-167; and "The Sin of Sloth or the Illness of the Demons? The Demon of Acedia in Early Christian Monasticism," HTR 98 (2005): 143-169. His current research focuses on the Critical Edition of the Works of Shenoute of Atripe, the most important and prolific author in Coptic, the indigenous language of ancient Egypt, as well as on the cultural history of illness, healing, and the "cure of souls" in Christian monastic tradition.