Laila Ali on hand for grand opening of HealthPartners' new Neuroscience Center

ST. PAUL, Minn. (KMSP) - Laila Ali grew up watching her father's Parkinson's Disease progress.

Her father, of course, was legendary boxer Muhammad Ali, who died less than a year ago.

Since then, she's become an advocate for those with neurological diseases, and was on hand Wednesday for the grand opening of HealthPartner's Neuroscience Center in St. Paul.

She says it's just the sort of place families dealing with neurological conditions deserve.

"You have so many questions that you need answers to," she said. "It takes a whole village really. I think it gives comfort in knowing this is a place right here in their home town they can go to."

From the track helping people walk across the room to the  pool equipment with monitors for rehabilitation work, dozens of doctors are at work even now, treating various brain disorders--but being under the same roof as the lab conducting as many as 30 research studies at any given time is what makes the Center a destination.

The building cost more than 70 million dollars, warranting a fundraising campaign to assist the hospital. The goal is to reach 10.5 million by the end of 2017.