Dr. Bernstein's clinical and research interests focus on systemic sclerosis (scleroderma), as well as on the detection and treatment of interstitial lung disease and pulmonary hypertension in patients with autoimmune diseases. She is the Florence Irving Associate Professor of Medicine at Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons and an Associate Attending at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital. Dr. Bernstein is the founder and Director of the Columbia University/NewYork-Presbyterian Scleroderma Center.

Dr. Bernstein graduated summa cum laude from Amherst College, and was inducted into the Alpha Omega Alpha medical honor society while a medical student at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine. She was the recipient of the American College of Rheumatology Distinguished Fellow Award and the Charles L. Christian Award for Excellence in Musculoskeletal Research while a rheumatology fellow at Hospital for Special Surgery. In recognition of her outstanding contributions to systemic sclerosis research, Dr. Bernstein received the Edith Busch Prize for Young Investigators at the 8th Systemic Sclerosis World Congress. Dr. Bernstein has received grants from the National Institutes of Health, Department of Defense, Arthritis Foundation, and Rheumatology Research Foundation to study lung disease in scleroderma. Her ongoing research projects focus on interstitial lung disease in scleroderma and on lung transplantation in patients with autoimmune diseases.