Minimally invasive spine surgery
A clinical foundation in precision, efficiency, and disciplined execution.
Founder · Innovator · Investor · Philanthropist
Healthcare systems architect.
A career in orthopedic spine surgery, healthcare systems, and physician-led innovation. Explore the record, publications, and work shaping what comes next.
20+Years architecting
healthcare systems
healthcare systems
20+Locations built
and operated
and operated
MDPhysician-led
perspective
perspective
The operating record
For more than 20 years, Sung Won, MD has built and scaled healthcare systems. He pioneered minimally invasive spine surgery, founded vertically integrated care platforms, and operated across more than 20 locations. That experience now informs his work in healthcare systems, longevity, and human performance.
Integrated delivery
- Primary care
- Surgical care
- Imaging
- Rehabilitation
- Innovative care
Next-generation platforms
- Longevity & performance
- Pain management
- Orthopedic & spine surgery
- Neurology
- Mental health
What Dr. Won Does
Three disciplines, one operating system.
01 · Performance
Longevity & Performance
His health and longevity education now lives at SungWonMD.com. This site remains the record of his clinical career, healthcare platforms, publications, and leadership work.
02 · Advisory
Healthcare Platform Advisory
For organizations and investors: vertically integrated models connecting clinical care, diagnostics, and operations into efficient, high-performing systems. Read Vertical Integration in Healthcare and The Future of MSO Strategy.
03 · Track record
A Track Record Built on Scale
Dr. Won has built and operated primary care, urgent care, multispecialty clinics, surgical hospitals and centers, imaging, emergency care, and rehabilitation across more than 20 locations. Read From Operating Rooms to Boardrooms.
About
Former surgeon. Founder. Healthcare systems architect.
Sung Won, MD is a former orthopedic spine surgeon who no longer practices. He is Founder & Principal, Won Health Architects. Sung Won serves as a strategic advisor to LUX Medical, a management company supporting Texas specialty clinics. He also advises The Elitist and writes about longevity education.
With over 20 years of experience building and scaling healthcare systems, his work has centered on creating vertically integrated models that connect clinical care, diagnostics, and operations into efficient, high-performing platforms.
He believes most people are underperforming not because of a lack of effort, but because their health isn't optimized. His work is about closing that gap, one system at a time.
Healthcare systems architect. Surgical experience at the foundation.
01
Early Career — Surgical Innovation
Part of the first wave of surgeons advancing minimally invasive and endoscopic spine surgery, an experience that shaped how he thinks about systems, efficiency, and long-term impact, not just clinical outcomes.
"There was only one person I was going to have perform my surgery, and that was Dr. Won. He's had a profound and lasting impact on my life. I'm living better and longer because of his care." — Robert Behrend, former patient
02
Proof of Concept — Minimally Invasive Spine Institute (MISI)
Founded Minimally Invasive Spine Institute (MISI) in Dallas, a vertically integrated spine center combining clinical care, an imaging center, physical therapy, and a surgery center under one model—an early proof of concept for the integrated platform approach he would later scale nationally.
03
Building at Scale — Lumin Health & Accel Spine
Founder of Lumin Health, LLC, whose brands included LuminCare (urgent care, 7 locations), LuminER (freestanding emergency rooms, 5 locations), Star Medical Center (surgical hospital), InMotion (physical therapy and rehab, 2 locations) and Clearvue Imaging (imaging center). Alongside it, founded Accel Spine, a medical device company focused on developing minimally invasive spine instruments and implants.
04
Current Focus
Founder & Principal, Won Health Architects
Strategic Advisor to LUX Medical, a management company supporting Texas specialty clinics, including SpineLUX Pain & Ortho. More on the discipline behind that work in Never Leave Well Enough Alone.
Clinical foundation
A clinical foundation.
A systems future.
Years in the operating room forged the precision, discipline, and systems thinking behind everything that followed.
Then → now
Clinical precision became operating discipline. That discipline carried from minimally invasive spine surgery into integrated healthcare platforms. Today, it shapes Dr. Won's work in healthcare systems, longevity education, investment, and philanthropy.
Professional archive · Dr. Won does not currently perform surgery.
Training & Credentials
Trained under some of the field's most recognized names.
Education
Doctor of Medicine, The University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston — Distinguished Honor Graduate, Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Graduate
Graduated from Northwestern University — Tau Beta Pi Engineering Honor Graduate
Attended Harvard University
Residency
Orthopaedic Surgery, Washington University School of Medicine / Barnes-Jewish Hospital — Chief Resident
Residency Director: Lawrence G. Lenke, MD
Fellowships
Spinal Deformity Surgery, Washington University School of Medicine — Keith Bridwell, MD & Larry Lenke, MD
Cervical Spine & Microscopic Surgery, William Beaumont Hospital — Fellowship Director: Harry N. Herkowitz, MD
Nutrition
Plant-Based Nutrition Certificate, eCornell, Cornell University
Patents
US 8,439,923 B2 — Poly-Axial Pedicle Screw Assembly (2013)
US 8,382,809 B2 — Poly-Axial Pedicle Screw Implements and Lock Screw Therefor (2013)
Selected Publications
Won DS, Herkowitz HN. Posterior Surgical Approach to Cervical Radiculopathy. The Spine, Rothman and Simeone, 5th ed. (book chapter)
Kuklo TR, Lenke LG, Won DS, et al. Spontaneous Proximal Thoracic Curve Correction Following Selective Fusion of the Main Thoracic Curve in Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis. Spine, 2001.
Kuklo TR, Lenke LG, Graham EJ, Won DS, et al. Correlation of Radiographic, Clinical and Patient Assessment of Shoulder Balance Following Fusion Versus Non-fusion of the Proximal Thoracic Curve in Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis. Spine, 2002.
Rhee JR, Bridwell KH, Won DS, Hanson D. Sagittal Plane Analysis of Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis: The Effects of Anterior vs. Posterior Instrumentation. Spine, 2002.
Health & Longevity
The education has its own home.
Sung Won, MD earned a Plant-Based Nutrition Certificate through eCornell, Cornell University. His longevity and health-optimization writing now lives on SungWonMD.com, where he addresses nutrition, movement, sleep, and prevention. This site remains the record of his clinical career, healthcare platforms, and publications.
Explore my health optimization work at SungWonMD.comVentures
The platforms, not just the pitch.
LUX Medical
Sung Won serves as a strategic advisor to LUX Medical, a management company supporting Texas specialty clinics, including SpineLUX Pain & Ortho.
SpineLUX Pain & Ortho
Interventional pain management, orthopedic and spine surgery, neurology, imaging, and home health.
MindLUX
Telehealth mental health counseling, the behavioral health arm of the same integrated model.
NeuroLUX
Neurologist-led diagnosis of concussion, traumatic brain injury, and post-concussion syndrome, with objective testing and advanced imaging, within the LUX Medical platform.
ImagingLUX
Diagnostic imaging supporting the specialty care platforms. In development.
RegenLUX
Regenerative medicine and wellness clinic services focused on longevity and optimal health, delivered by a physician team.
Philanthropy & Global Impact
Applying the same discipline off the clock.
Medical Missions in Peru
Dr. Won has led multiple surgical mission trips to Peru, providing care for high-complexity cases, including pediatric scoliosis, adult spine deformities, and spinal cancer, for underserved communities in resource-limited settings. The work reflects the same operating principle behind every platform he's built: care shouldn't depend on where you happen to live. More on the responsibility that comes with this work, in Global Surgical Missions and the Responsibility of Medical Leadership.
The same systems thinking applies at the individual level. Longevity isn't a supplement stack, it's daily infrastructure: what's in the grocery cart, how consistently it's trained for, how well it's measured.
Sung Won, MD Scholarship, through Irving School Foundation
For 15 years, Dr. Won has partnered with Irving School Foundation on an endowed scholarship for high-achieving students with significant financial need who are committed to academic excellence and community service.
Dr. Won presents the scholarship to recipient Sofie Magaña at an Irving School Foundation event.
Keynote · Irving Schools Foundation
Education is
infrastructure.
At the Irving Schools Foundation’s 30th Annual Breakfast with the Stars scholarship awards ceremony, Dr. Won served as keynote speaker.
Speaking and media details
Education & mentorship
Mentorship
in practice.
Dr. Won mentoring elementary students during a hands-on classroom learning experience.
What Others Say
From colleagues, mentees, and patients.
"Dr. Won stands out as the most exceptional spine surgeon I've worked with. His approach is meticulous and methodical, making even the most complex procedures look effortless. He consistently went above and beyond to make sure his patients received the highest level of care."
Franklin Cheng, MDAnesthesiologist"Shadowing Dr. Won, I saw a doctor who genuinely cared about his patients' wellbeing and always made sure they understood their own care. Now, as a Ph.D. student, his mentorship still shapes how I approach learning."
Harrison WuFormer Mentee, Ph.D. Student"I've always found Dr. Won to be dependable, honest, and extremely well regarded among his peers. I've seen firsthand his passion for serving the community and helping people regain their health."
Meera DalkaCommunity MemberFrom the professional record
Selected writing.
October 2026
Why Healthcare Needs Better Systems, Not Just Better Clinics
Growth does not fix a broken system. Start with the full patient journey.
July 2026Global Surgical Missions and Medical Leadership
What international surgical work taught me about preparation, partnership, and responsibility.
June 2026From Operating Rooms to Boardrooms
What a surgical career taught me about judgment, leadership, and healthcare operations.
Get in Touch
Let's talk.
Whether you want to talk about longevity and performance, explore a platform partnership, or connect on media and speaking, tell us a bit about what you're working on.