GSK announced that Dr Tadataka (Tachi) Yamada, chairman, Pharmaceuticals Research & Development, has been appointed executive director of GlaxoSmithKline plc with effect from 1st January 2004.

Commenting on this appointment Christopher Hogg, the chairman of GSK, said "GlaxoSmithKline has a very strong executive team led by Dr Garnier and I am very pleased that the Board will now benefit from the direct presence of Tachi, who has great knowledge and experience in medicine as well as in the pharmaceutical industry".

Dr Tadataka (Tachi) Yamada joined SmithKline Beecham as a non-executive member of the Board of Directors in February 1994. Subsequently, he accepted a full-time position at SmithKline Beecham as President of their Healthcare Services Division. In February 1999, he was named chairman, Research and Development, SmithKline Beecham Pharmaceuticals and in January 2001 he assumed his current position. Prior to joining SmithKline Beecham he was chairman of the Department of Internal Medicine at the University of Michigan Medical School and physician-in-chief of the University of Michigan Medical Center.

Dr Yamada graduated from Stanford University with a BA in history and obtained his MD from New York University School of Medicine. He is a gastroenterologist who has focused his research on the molecular biology of hormone receptors and is the editor of The Textbook of Gastroenterology.

Dr Yamada is a Fellow of the Imperial College of Medicine, a Master of the American College of Physicians, vice-president of the Association of American Physicians and a Past-President of the American Gastroenterological Association.