Welcome to Innovation Conversations, a special series of Sterne Kessler's IP Hot Topics podcast. I'm your series host, Trey Powers, a Director in Sterne Kessler's biotech and litigation practice groups. Joining me as a cohost for this interview is my partner and good friend, Eldora Ellison, who is also in our biotech practice group. Our first guest for the innovation conversations is Walter Isaacson, renowned author, analyst, journalist, historian, and professor at Tulane University.

Professor Isaacson has written extensively about innovators, including Steve Jobs, Ben Franklin, Albert Einstein, Leonardo de Vinci, and many others. He is currently working on a book about innovation in the biotech space. Professor Isaacson sat down with us virtually and shared a variety of insights about the state of innovation today, as well as some lessons from history. In the first of this two-part interview, we explore historical perspectives and lessons from past innovators. In part two, the discussion focuses on the current state of innovation in the U.S. and looks forward to what challenges lie ahead. Welcome to all of you our listeners and to you, Walter and Eldora.