Dr. Kathy Pfaff is an Associate Professor of Nursing at the University of Windsor and a registered nurse.  Kathy spent her early years living in Western Canada, but the Windsor Ontario area has been her home for 43 years. She received her BScN and MScN degrees from the University of Windsor in 1988 and 2008, respectively, and earned her PhD in Nursing from McMaster University in 2013. Her 33-year nursing career spans the acute care, community care, and academic sectors. Kathy has teaching and research interests in healthy aging and palliative care.

Her research program is centered on the evaluating the implementation and impacts of compassionate models of healthcare delivery. She is a passionate champion for compassionate communities (CC). Kathy co-developed Ontario's CC framework and is a member of Hospice Palliative Care Ontario's CC Research Leadership team and Community of Practice.