Mercedes Bern-Klug is an Associate Professor specializing in gerontology, with a focus on long-term services and supports for older persons and persons with disabilities. Previously, Bern-Klug was the Director of the School of Social Work.

Bern-Klug conducts research on how social workers and other health care providers can support older adults and their family members with the psychosocial implications of with medical decision-making in long-term care settings. Her research has been supported by the AARP Andrus Foundation, the John A. Hartford Foundation, The Soros Foundation, the UI Cancer and Aging Program, and the Retirement Research Foundation. In 2010 she was awarded the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Faculty Achievement Award for excellence in research, teaching, and service. In 2011, she was inducted as a fellow in the Gerontological Society of America. In 2014, she was appointed by the Iowa City Council to the Ad Hoc Senior Services committee to review the senior center and senior services in the Iowa City area. She edited the book Transforming Palliative Care in Nursing Homes: The Social Work Role (Columbia University Press, 2010).