December 13/Purchase, New York/PRNewswire-AsiaNet -- PepsiCo announced the appointment of Dr. Mehmood Khan to the newly created position of chief scientific officer, reporting to Indra Nooyi, chairman and chief executive officer.

Khan brings to PepsiCo over 20 years of experience in the medical and pharmaceutical field. Most recently, he served as president, Takeda Pharmaceuticals Global Research and Development Center. He built Takeda's U.S. medical affairs and global medical affairs functions, and helped develop the strong, scientific basis for launching the company's major products as president of U.S. and European drug development.

"Mehmood is an accomplished medical professional with a proven R&D track record, and I am proud and delighted to welcome him to PepsiCo," said Nooyi.

"I know he'll play a key role helping us maintain -- and step up -- our leadership in innovation, developing products that meet the ever-changing needs of today's consumers."

As an M.D. with specialties in internal medicine and endocrinology, Khan has extensive academic and clinical experience. He served at the Mayo Clinic as the director of diabetes, endocrinology and nutrition clinical trial unit. He spent six years with the department of food, sciences and nutrition at the University of Minnesota. He also served as division chief of endocrinology, metabolism and nutrition at one of the main teaching hospitals of the University of Minnesota Medical School.

At PepsiCo, Khan will guide the company's long-term research strategy and agenda for business opportunities. He will provide global leadership and support to division research and development groups in the areas of enterprise research planning, R&D portfolio management, next generation technologies, nutritional standards, food safety and regulation, and quality assurance. He will also build on the divisional work underway to accelerate PepsiCo's global R&D competencies, capabilities and talent pipeline.

Khan earned his medical degree from the University of Liverpool Medical School, England, and completed a fellowship in clinical endocrinology in the department of medicine, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis. He has served on numerous state and national committees of the American Diabetes Association, the Minneapolis Medical Research Foundation and the National Institutes of Health. Additionally, he held several visiting professorships, has published extensively and presented at many medical meetings. Khan will be based in Purchase, effective in January 2008.

From the December 17, 2007, Prepared Foods e-Flash