Chris Taub (generally referred to as "Taub") is one of the three new teaching fellows hired by House in Season 4. He is portrayed by actor Peter Jacobson.
History
Taub was a successful plastic surgeon in a lucrative practice, but lost his ability to practice after he had an affair with a nurse that, in his words, "got real." His partners found out about the affair and used it to blackmail him, forcing him to sign a non-compete clause by threatening to tell his wife about the affair.
Despite betraying her, Taub was willing to give up his chosen practice completely, simply saying "I love my wife." He revealed a made up story about losing a patient to explain to his wife why he had to quit and gave her a four-carat diamond ring to make it up to her. In Wilson's Heart, after the death of Amber Volakis, he immediately climbed into bed fully dressed and hugged his wife tightly.
It is not certain why Taub sought out the fellowship position, but House believes that Taub is simply desperate and looking for any job to tide him over. He almost fired Taub in Ugly for directly going against his orders, but soon realized after digging into his background that Taub had risked his fellowship job with nothing else to fall back on. Intrigued by Taub's decisions, House decided to keep him.
In Don't Ever Change, Taub reveals that he is Jewish, though he describes himself as a non-practicing or a very liberal Reform one.
Medical style
Taub was a nearly unanimous pick of the PPTH staff (including Chase and Cuddy) for one of the fellowship positions despite being older than most fellows. His years of plastic surgery certainly haven't lessened his other medical abilities, and he was probably the most medically knowledgeable of the applicants except for Henry. In fact, his competition with Henry over a patient led to a brisk generation of diagnostic ideas.
While initially criticised by the other candidates for his specialty, Taub proved himself to be quite clever, using his specialty to help House's many attempts to work around the "rules." When in The Right Stuff, House cannot figure out how to do a biopsy without alerting NASA officials or the hospital, Taub proposed the solution of covering the necessary surgery with an elective breast augmentation, which allows Chase, watching from observation, to notice the true cause of the condition.
Like House and Foreman, Taub is a very objective doctor, putting aside personal feelings toward a patient in favor of finding the solution. This occasionally translates into somewhat colder behavior, such as when he remarked about a drug addict patient "I care more about my wallpaper than I care about his life". He even stayed acutely focused on a patient mere days after Lawrence Kutner's death.
Taub doesn't appear to be the type of plastic surgeon who feeds his patients' vanity, and is fully familiar with how to treat major facial disfigurations that can be life altering. As he says, he sees patients the way they could be and how that will affect their life. He was apparently quite fond of his specialty, remarking to a soap opera star he "loved it - every boob job, every tummy tuck."
Personality
Taub is easily the most sarcastic and confrontational of the fellows, and always seems to be ready with a witty rejoinder when it is required. He has a strong sense of self and is not the type to back down when he believes he is right.
Despite giving up plastic surgery for his wife, Taub has shown indicators for future adultery, admitting to House, "Some people pop pills. I cheat. We all have our vices." The patient with mirror syndrome saw that he was attracted to Amber's dominant personality, and the two did share a flirtatiously combative dialogue.
At present, Taub has become more and more concerned about financial matters. Although he had substantial savings from his plastic surgery practice and was able to maintain his lifestyle for a while, it is clear the economic downturn has reduced his portfolio substantially and he is in danger of having to cut back. This has caused a conflict between Taub wanting to return to a higher paying career and his also wanting to do something more substantial with his medical training than plastic surgery. It has also made House question his committment to his job.
Relationship with House
As the oldest and most experienced of House's new team, he is the most willing to challenge House's authority. During the competition, he even went so far as to tell a patient's father that he thinks House is wrong and can have him removed from the case. House tried to fire him immediately after this and even Cuddy agreed he was out of line, but he was spared by the fact that the patient's father trusted him. Eric Foreman observed that a move like that, rather than putting him in line to be fired, actually moved him to the top of the list.
Cuddy later chose Taub as one of her two choices for the team, arguing that his knowledge and combative nature would keep House focused. Since being hired, he remains the fellow House is most likely to respect, even allowing him to question whether or not House was having an affair with Amber.