NASA is giving $3 million to the Louisville based National Stem Cell Foundation.

The money will help the foundation fund more space based research on brain cells in order to fight Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's and multiple sclerosis.

At Kentucky State Capitol today, the National Stem Cell Foundation explains how zero gravity helps scientists see cells differently.

When you're looking at cells on Earth, you're looking at them slightly flattened by the effects of gravity under a microscope.

Even if you put them in a centrifuge to simulate microgravity, you're still getting a different behavior than you will when you watch it in space, which is in 3-D, you can see these cells talking to each other in a way that's not possible on Earth.

The NASA award was made possible by $300,000 in matching funds from the Kentucky General Assembly.

Senate President Robert Stivers says this could lead to cures Kentuckians need.

When people tell me this, it was like, okay, we want to make this happen.

We'll give you every tool you can because one, it sets up really well to make Kentucky a hub for this type of research, too.

It marries well with what we're already doing here with the massive program and three.

Think about the impacts it can have on individuals personal lives and things that can happen with the research that we continue to promote, whether it be with Alzheimer's, be it with cancer, be it with any of the degenerative diseases that this is looking at.

The foundation has already been a part of six missions on the International Space Station.

This grant will help fund more.