WHEELING — Urologic oncologist Dr. Gregory Merrick, director of Wheeling Hospital’s Schiffler Cancer Center, the Men’s Health Center and Urologic Research Institute, has been named to the 2017-18 list of Best Doctors in America.

Merrick’s inclusion on the list is the result of an extensive, impartial, peer-review poll of physicians nationwide. It recognizes approximately 4 percent of U.S. doctors from whom other physicians would seek care.

Earlier this year, Merrick was selected as one of only 12 physicians in the nation as a fellow in the American Brachytherapy Society.

Under Merrick’s direction, the Schiffler Cancer Center has established an international reputation in the diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer, having treated patients from 42 states and 17 countries.

Merrick is a nationally recognized uro-oncology expert. He has published hundreds of original scientific studies on urologic cancer, co-authored two textbooks and lectured across the United States and abroad. His research has advanced brachytherapy patient selection and technique, prostate biopsy, treatment and post-operative management.

Merrick also has evaluated mechanisms of erectile dysfunction and participated in large studies evaluating investigational drugs for end-stage prostate cancer.

In connection with his colleague, Dr. Kent Wallner at the University of Washington, Merrick has completed three prospective randomized prostate brachytherapy trials evaluating efficacy and quality of life.

Merrick also is director of cryosurgery services at Wheeling Hospital, which offers a new, minimally invasive therapy for treating kidney cancer. In addition, he has developed innovative prostate biopsy techniques that have resulted in improved prostate cancer diagnostic accuracy.