Information Session: 2025 ACL Evidence-Based Program Review Process

Kathleen Zuke was privileged to grow up with eight loving grandparents and developed a passion for supportive services for older adults as a caregiver for her grandfather. She has been a Senior Program Manager with the Center for Healthy Aging since 2015. In this role, she works collaboratively with community-based partners across the country to identify, implement, and sustain evidence-based programs that support older adults in staying well and aging in the community, including chronic disease self-management education, falls prevention, and behavioral health. She has a Master’s degree in Public Health from Hunter College and a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology from St. Mary’s College of Maryland.

Patty Keane is a registered dietitian nutritionist with a diverse, cross-sector background and a passion for building on community strengths to advance nutrition and health equity. Patty joined ACL in March 2024 as the National Nutritionist, and her role encompasses the Older Americans Act Title III-C Senior Nutrition Program and Title III-D Evidence-Based Disease Prevention and Health Promotion Services. She serves as the Project Officer for the National Chronic Disease Self-Management Education (CDSME) Resource Center and for several CDSME and Innovations in Nutrition grantees. Before joining ACL, Patty held consulting roles advising USDA NIFA Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Program (GusNIP) grantees and supporting the cultural adaptation of diabetes prevention curricula for American Indian and Alaska Native populations. In previous municipal and state government roles, Patty managed senior nutrition and transportation programs for the City of Albuquerque and advised New Mexico Governor Lujan Grisham’s interagency food security initiatives and COVID-19 response. Patty served as an Associate Scientist and Principal Investigator at the University of New Mexico (UNM) Prevention Research Center and as Nutrition Faculty for the Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and Related Disabilities (LEND) Program at the UNM Center for Development and Disability. At UNM, Patty led chronic disease prevention and health promotion research and programs and provided nutrition, policy, and leadership expertise. Patty has served as a federal grant reviewer for ACL and in volunteer professional leadership roles at the local, state, regional, and national levels.

Ninfa Pena-Purcell, PhD is a Public Health Research Scientist at the Texas A&M Center for Community Health and Aging, and is Assistant Director of Texas A&M National Community Health Worker Training Center. Dr. Pena-Purcell earned a Ph.D. in Health Studies in 2005 from Texas Woman's University. In 2021, she was appointed by the Texas Governor to serve a 7-year term as a board member on the Texas Diabetes Council (TDC) and elected Vice Chair January 2024. Dr. Pena-Purcell previously held positions on the boards of the Society of Public Health Education (SOPHE) (2021-2023) and the National Commission for Health Education Credentialing (NCHEC) (2019-2020). She has authored numerous health programs including Live in Control and its Spanish version, Vivir en Control, a diabetes self-management education program. These programs are nationally recognized by the American Diabetes Association and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Her passion is to empower and engage communities to address the health needs of underserved minority populations.