About Us
GAAS Analytical was founded in 2008 by Dr. Anik� M. S�lyom to capitalize on her decades of experience at the University of Arizona researching botanical products. GAAS Analytical is an independent contract testing laboratory of natural products, botanical drugs, phytochemicals and dietary supplements, including raw materials, intermediates and finished products. We provide high quality analytical services, including routine testing, analytical method development & validation and contract research & development, to medium and small businesses and educational institutions.
Over the past decade, GAAS has grown into a well-respected boutique laboratory, with a customer base that�s grown to trust our analyses. We hope we can earn your trust too.
Our Leadership
Anik� has more than 30 years of comprehensive experience in analytical method development and validation, using a wide variety of analytical techniques. Her expertise is in development and validation of analytical methods with particular emphasis on HPLC, LC-MS applications and bioactivity guided preparative separation of complex mixtures and analysis of biological samples and dietary supplements that she gained working on drug development and contract analysis both in academia and industry.
Anik� M. S�lyom, Ph.D.
The CEO and founder of GAAS
In addition to HPLC technique she has significant experience with atomic absorption spectroscopy, inductively coupled plasma emission spectroscopy, photoacoustic spectroscopy, UV-Vis spectroscopy, elemental analysis, mass spectrometry, gas chromatography, GC-MS, LC-MS and NMR. She also has experience conducting absorption, distribution and elimination studies on animals.
Before founding GAAS Corporation, Anik� served as director of the Analytical Core at an NIH funded Botanical Center (Arizona Center for Phytomedicine Research). The Facility focused on quantitation and identification of natural products and dietary supplements, particularly anti-inflammatory compounds from turmeric, ginger and boswellia. She developed methods to analyze these compounds from the plant materials, extracts, commercially available dietary supplements and from different biological matrices.
Prior to GAAS, she served as the Project Manager at the University of Arizona for the “Studies of Chemical Disposition in Mammals” government contract (NO1-ES-45529, NIH/NIEHS), a multi-million dollar project. She also worked for Oncothyreon/ProlX Pharmaceuticals, a company specializing in cancer drug development, as the Manager of Analytical Services. Her duties included developing and validating new assay methods according to cGLP regulations, to quantify novel cancer drugs in plasma and urine using QQQ LC/MS technique; identifying metabolites of new cancer drugs in plasma and urine using TOF LC/MS technique and calculating pharmacokinetic parameters.
Anik� is an active member of AOAC International; she joined the organization in 2002. Currently she is member of AOAC�s Stakeholder Panel on Dietary Supplements responsible for developing, approving, and implementing standards for high priority dietary ingredients. She has participated in multiple AOAC organized collaborative studies (glucosamine, ginkgo, saw palmetto) in order to validate analytical methods to be used by the dietary supplement industry (see References). She was Horwitz advisor of AOAC until the restructuring the Official Methods of Analysis (OMA) process in January 2008, when the role of method advisors and Horwitz advisors was retired. As a former Horwitz advisor she is familiar with the AOAC Official Methods (OMA) program. For 5 years she has been serving as member of the Presidential Task Force on Dietary Supplements of AOAC, and also served as member of Expert Review Panels of AOAC.
George Z. Angeli, Ph.D.
President of GAAS
Anik� is joined by George Angeli, co-founder and president of GAAS. George is responsible for operational management at GAAS. George has extensive experience in engineering management, systems engineering and project management for projects ranging from small to very large. As Systems Engineering Manager, he is the chief technical leader of a $650M federally funded project, the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope. He was formerly Head of Systems Engineering of the Thirty Meter Telescope Observatory, an international partnership between the USA, Canada, Japan, India, and China to build an Extremely Large Optical Telescope (ELT). Before that he was the project manager of a team developing real time, phase shifting interferometers at WYKO.
Our Laboratory
GAAS serves clients throughout the United States and Canada from our facility in Tucson, Arizona, near the University of Arizona. GAAS� facility consists of 200 square feet of office, 200 square feet for analytical instrumentation and 800 square feet sample preparation and storage space. The facility is protected with a continuously monitored security system and equipped with features required for the health & safety of our employees. The laboratory was designed and constructed for the efficient production of high quality analytical services.
The laboratory is equipped with an Agilent 1200 series Rapid Resolution HPLC system, including SL binary pump, vacuum degasser, thermostatted autosampler, thermostatted column compartment and diode array detector. The laboratory is additionally equipped with standard laboratory equipment: UV-vis spectrophotometer, micro- and analytical balances, Buchi R-200 rotary evaporator, benchtop concentrator, solid phase extraction (SPE) apparatus,, water purification system, furnace oven, temperature controlled water bath, centrifuges, vacuum oven, ultra-low temperature freezer, and common laboratory equipment (hot plates, oven, stirrers, shakers, ultrasonic cleaner, mini centrifuge, pH meter, vacuum pumps, refrigerator) to perform the preparation and analysis of samples.