Mark Berg is the founding Director of the Center for Social Science Innovation. Prior to this appointment he was the Director of the Public Policy Center. In this role, he provides strategic leadership and oversees the center's research initiatives. 

As a professor in the Department of Sociology and Criminology, Berg's primary research and teaching interests focus on criminology and the social determinants of health. His recent work explores topics such as interpersonal disputes, developmental pathways of antisocial behavior, and life-course determinants of physical health, including biological aging. Berg is the research team lead on the Firearm Safety Research and Practice Action Team in the UI’s Injury Prevention Research Center.  His research has been supported by the National Science Foundation, the National Institute of Justice, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Berg's contributions to academia have been recognized with several honors, including being named a Collegiate Scholar by the UI College of Liberal Arts and Sciences in 2021.