model of rh. this model, named the rabbit hga-f system, was an animal model of human rh, and enabled pollack's team to gain experience in preventing hemolytic disease in rabbits by giving specific hga antibody, as was later done with rh-negative mothers. one of the needs was a dosing experiment that could be used to determine the level of circulating rh-positive cells in an rh-negative pregnant female derived from her rh-positive fetus. this was first done in the rabbit system, but subsequent human tests at the university of manitoba conducted under dr. pollack's direction confirmed that anti-rho(d) immune globulin could prevent alloimmunization during pregnancy. ms. marianne cummins was the first at risk woman to receive a prophylactic injection of anti-rho(d) immune globulin (rhig) after its regulatory approval. clinical trials were set up in 42 centers in the us, great britain, germany, sweden, italy, and australia. rhig was finally approved in england and the united states in 1968. the fda approved the drug under the brand name rhogam, with a fixed dose of 300 µg, to be given within three days (72 hours) postpartum. subsequently, a broader peripartum period was approved for dosing which included prophylaxis during pregnancy. within a year, the antibody had been injected with great success into more than 500,000 women. time magazine picked it as one of the top ten medical achievements of the 1960s. by 1973, it was estimated that in the us alone, over 50,000 babies' lives had been saved. the use of rh immune globulin to prevent the disease in babies of rh negative mothers has become standard practice, and the disease, which used to claim the lives of 10,000 babies each year in the us alone, has been virtually eradicated in the developed world. in 1980, cyril clarke, ronald finn, john g.gorman, vincent freda, and william pollack each received an albert lasker award for clinical medical research for their work on rhesus blood types and the prevention of rh disease.