Dr. Crapo is a Professor of Medicine at National Jewish Health and University of Colorado Denver, former Director of  the Clinical Science Graduate Program of the University of Colorado, former Associate Dean of the School of Medicine at the University of Colorado, and former Executive Vice President of Academic Affairs and Chair of the Department of Medicine at National Jewish Health.  After completing his residency and fellowship training, Dr. Crapo stayed at Duke as an Associate Professor of Medicine and Pathology. Prior to joining National Jewish, Dr. Crapo spent over 15 years as the Chief of the Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine Division at Duke University Medical Center. His research interests include oxidative stress, models of inflammation and smooth muscle reactivity. His laboratory is also creating antioxidants that could be used as drugs against free radicals in certain diseases.

Throughout his professional career he has been part of numerous professional societies, including service on the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute Advisory Council and serving as President of the American Thoracic Society. He is an active fellow of the American College of Physicians and the American College of Chest Physicians. Dr. Crapo is also the Editor of the Journal of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology.

He has maintained a large research program and has numerous grants on which he is the principal investigator. He has over 190 selected articles and 7 text books to his credit, as well as numerous reviews, editorials and book chapters.