A University of Georgia professor and his research group have been awarded $9.2 million from the National Institutes of Health to continue their work with stem cells.

Stephen Dalton, a molecular biology professor and Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar, studies the molecular beginnings of stem cells as they become specialized cells.

The grant is the latest of a $27 million initiative in stem cell funding at UGA, the University of California at Los Angeles and the University of Wisconsin. Researches are working to try to unlock the mysteries of human embryonic cells to help develop therapies to treat diseases.

UGA has become an international leader in stem cell work. Dalton also chairs the new Southeast Stem Cell Consortium, which shares research around the region.

His own research focuses on the use of stem cells in understanding diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

"The heart is an organ that doesn't repair itself," he said in a news release. His group studies stem cells that have the capability to divide and turn into cardiac cells. "Theoretically, they could be used to help the heart repair itself after a heart attack."