Bristena is an Academic Clinical Fellow in Neurology on the Cambridge Clinical Academic Training Programme. Her research in the Department of Clinical Neurosciences focuses on the role of neuro-immune interactions in the pathological mechanisms underlying neurodegeneration. She has supervised Neurobiology 1B at Clare College since 2021.

Bristena completed her MD at Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Bucharest, where she also worked as a voluntary research assistant investigating the role of chloride dynamics in hypoxic injury to hypothalamic neurons in the context of perinatal asphyxia. She subsequently completed a PhD in Clinical Neurosciences at the University of Cambridge, where she explored the use of cellular reprogramming techniques to develop robust platforms for interrogating novel metabolic mechanisms and therapeutic targets in progressive multiple sclerosis.