When Nigel Farrow's daughter Ella was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis, he did the only thing he thought would help.

He quit his music career and began studying to find a cure.

Dr Farrow told 891 ABC Adelaide's Afternoons program he enrolled in university and became a microbiologist.

"I was really not interested in science, but this gave me a reason to be — and a direction," Dr Farrow said.

After learning his daughter's disease would shorten her life, Dr Farrow said he felt he had to do everything in his power to try to cure her.

"I just wanted to find a cure, but being a musician I felt rather helpless and needed a pathway to contribute to finding that cure," he said.

Finished school in year 10, now has PhD

He originally left school at grade 10 and found his reintroduction to schooling a lot harder than he expected.

"The first year especially was incredibly difficult," Dr Farrow said.

"[Ella] didn't have a break, so every time I felt like sitting down and having a break, it was 'no, get back in the study and get back into it'."

Dr Farrow said his career change was the least he could do for his daughter.

"When your child is diagnosed with a chronic illness like that, your whole life changes in the blink of an eye," he said.

"What you know as reality disappears and [you are] trying to put the fragments back together from that.

From year 10 school leaver to PhD, Dr Farrow studied hard to gain the qualifications needed in his quest ( Supplied )

"I needed something positive and this was what I saw as the positive path to go down."

Dr Farrow completed a Bachelor of Medical Science at Flinders University, followed by a Bachelor of Health Science with honours in medicine at Adelaide University.

He has recently completed a PhD in medicine at Adelaide University and is currently working with a research group to inject a viral vector delivering a corrective gene into the lungs of cystic fibrosis patients.

Dr Farrow said by injecting the gene into the lungs, it was hoped stem cells, which naturally replenish the airways, would adopt the corrected genes and repair damaged cells.

He said the team's findings to date showed the treatment would work; they simply need funding to progress to clinical trials on humans.

"The science is there, we just need the funding to get it to that point," Dr Farrow said.

"Once we get there, it will open the door for [curing] a lot of different diseases.

"I believe this is the beginning of a new way of medicine."

The backing needed to go from the labs to mainstream medicine

As part of a campaign to raise funds and awareness for Dr Farrow's research, the Cure For Cystic Fibrosis (Cure4CF) Foundation launched a Father's Day appeal.

Cure4CF executive officer Linda Jones told 891 ABC Adelaide the only thing stopping the progress of Dr Farrow's research was money.

"As a community, it is up to us now to really heavily invest and make sure we can translate that from what sits in the laboratory to move to clinical trials," Ms Jones said.

She said estimates showed the trials would cost $1.5 million per year for five years to complete.

"It's a significant investment, but it is worth it," Ms Jones said.

The Women's and Children's Hospital team Dr Farrow is working with is the world leader in its field of research, Ms Jones said.