 His group discovered the first Bcl-2 homolog to be identified, Bcl-Xl, and described the first BH3-only containing regulatory family member, Bcl-xS.He published this work alongside Stanley Korsmeyer’s report of the first pro-apoptotic family member, Bax, and together established the three classes of this gene family and defined their pro-apoptotic and anti-apoptotic roles.Thompson’s recent research has focused on cellular metabolism.