SMTP Mail Writer - variable email addresses

A (very) new Pipeline Pilot user here. I've been asked to set up a protocol that will perform quality control checks on a database. If gaps or incorrect information is found, the owner of these records are to be emailed a notice. I can successfully send email if I hard code an email address in the To: field.  I have everything working well, except for one item.

My problem:  In the protocol, I assign record owners email addresses to a global variable.  In the SMTP mail writer, for the To: address, I list the global variable, @EmailAddress. This produces the following error:

"An unexpected RCPT response was received: 501 5.5.4 Invalid Address , expected 250 "

Is there a way to assign email addresses as a variable to the To: address when using the SMTP Mail Writer?