Lisa Cuddy is the hospital dean and Dr. House’s supervisor in House M.D.
Cuddy is played by Lisa Edelstein and serves as dean of medicine at Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital. She manages the institution while trying to control House’s rule-breaking, abrasive behavior, and unconventional treatment decisions. Their arguments provide one of the show’s recurring sources of conflict.
Cuddy is also a physician, giving her medical knowledge as well as administrative authority. She frequently protects House because his diagnostic success benefits the hospital, but she also imposes limits when his conduct risks patients, staff, or the institution’s reputation.
The character’s personal relationship with House develops over the series, but Cuddy remains distinct from House’s diagnostic colleagues and from his friend Wilson. Her role combines hospital leadership, medical judgment, and an ongoing struggle to make House function within professional boundaries.