Lior Appelbaum, a prominent researcher in molecular and cellular neuroscience, received his Ph.D. in neuroendocrinology in 2005. He then pursued postdoctoral studies at Stanford University, where he established the zebrafish model to understand the genetic basis of sleep and sleep disorders. Since 2010, he has been a principal investigator at the Faculty of Life Sciences and the Multidisciplinary Brain Research Center, Bar-Ilan University.

The Appelbaum lab uses multiple cnidarian and fish species to study evolution and development of the nervous system, sleep and neurodevelopmental disorders, such as thyroid-dependent psychomotor retardation, epilepsy, and fragile X syndrome (FXS). His research utilizes a range of techniques, including single-cell transcriptome sequencing, CRISPR-mediated genetic manipulation, transgenesis, high-throughput video tracking of behavior, two-photon microscopy, and live imaging within hyperbaric chambers. One of his key discoveries revealed that sleep plays a critical role in facilitating the repair of DNA damage accumulated during wakefulness.