Full-time associate professor at the Academic Department of Economics and researcher at Universidad del Pacífico Research Center. She holds a PhD in Economics from Tilburg University (the Netherlands); Master in Science degrees in Economics Research and Aging Finances, both from Tilburg University; and a BA in Social Sciences majoring in Economics from Pontificia Universidad Católica del Perú.
She has conducted specialized studies on pensions, demography, and actuarial techniques at Tilburg University, the International Institute of Ageing, and the Ibero-American Organization of Social Security.
She has research and advisory experience to governments from Peru, the Netherlands, and Latin America and the Caribbean. She has carried out research and consulting for national and international organizations. She has also published scientific papers in prestigious international journals, political documents in government institutions, and a book with proposed reforms to the pension system in Peru.
Dr. Bernal has served as a consultant in the Labor Markets and Social Security Unit of the Inter-American Development Bank and as a researcher at the Dutch Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs. She has also worked as senior economist for the Economic Research Department of BBVA, the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the Ministry of Economy and Finance of Peru and the Superintendence of Banks, Insurance and Pension Funds (SBS).

Social security, health economics, labor markets, development economics, impact assessments, family decisions, public policies.