A $200,000 grant to support research into the bone marrow cancer that took the life last year of columnist Eppie Lederer - better known as Ann Landers - has been awarded to a Northwestern University professor.

It will be used to define the genetic abnormalities of the cancer, multiple myeloma, said the award's recipient, Dr. Seema Singhal, who directs the university's myeloma research.

The Ann Landers Research Fund Award was announced Tuesday by the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation, based in New Canaan, Conn. Members of its advisory board chose the proposal from five submitted by major Illinois research institutions, said its president, Kathy Giusti.

Two years after being diagnosed with myeloma in 1996, Giusti established the foundation with her twin sister, Karen Andrews. Its goal is to raise awareness and provide research dollars to find new treatments for the disease, the second most common blood cancer. Approximately 45,000 people in the U.S. have myeloma.

The two-year grant is funded by the foundation through a $100,000 contribution from the Chicago Tribune Foundation and a matching $100,000 gift from Lederer's daughter, Margo Howard, donated through the research fund she founded after her mother's death last June.

"I think this is just wonderful," said Howard. "The feeling between the Tribune and my mother was so warm. She was happy from the minute she got there."

Chicago Tribune publisher and president Scott Smith expressed similar sentiments.

"Through her Ann Landers column, Eppie was a trusted friend and adviser to millions of readers across America," said Smith.