On Saturday, May 30, a benefit concert will be held at the Teatro de la Zarzuela in Madrid for the benefit of research center Médica Aplicada (CIMA ) of the University of Navarra.

The recital will be performed at position by María José Montiel, considered one of the best mezzo-sopranos on the international scene. She will be accompanied by pianist Miquel Estelrich and will perform works by Schumann, Tchaikovsky, Debussy, Bizet, García Abril, Gardel and Falla. According to María José Montiel, "one of the most important acts of people is to try to help each other. That is why I wanted to participate in this charity recital. Singing for rare diseases and other pathologies that are being researched at CIMA of the University of Navarra is a way to contribute to making a better world".

The CIMA is pioneering the application of gene therapy to treat patients with acute intermittent porphyria, a rare metabolic disease that affects approximately 5 out of every 100,000 inhabitants. Researchers at CIMA have developed a vector, the first gene therapy product C in the European Union, which is being evaluated in a clinical essay at the Clínica Universidad de Navarra and at the Hospital 12 de Octubre in Madrid.

"I contacted CIMA just out of a coma and paralyzed. I was lucky enough to meet Dr. Jesús Prieto and he told me that he could not allow me to be suffering and that he was going to cure me. At Clínica Universidad de Navarra I was diagnosed with acute intermittent porphyria and they started with the essay gene therapy. I am living my best moments as result of this treatment and deep rehabilitation. There are people who with this therapy are already cured and others of us are in the process. I have improved so much in the last two years that I feel manager that other people can benefit from the biomedical research as I have. Therefore, I thank the CIMA and all the people who contribute through this charity event to the research carried out by this center", explained María Ángeles Guillamón, patient with acute intermittent porphyria.

The concert will be an act of gratitude to companies, institutions and individuals who make the center's activity possible. The funds raised will go entirely to the research of the diseases studied at CIMA: solid and hematological tumors, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases, cardiovascular diseases, liver cancer, cirrhosis and rare diseases, among others. goal "It also aims to raise public awareness of these diseases and the importance of research for the benefit of patients," said Jesús M. Hernández, director general of CIMA.

More information, reservation for tickets or row 0 at www.conciertobeneficocima.com.