List of Famous people who born in 1956

Napoleone Ferrara, is an Italian-American molecular biologist who joined University of California, San Diego Moores Cancer Center in 2013 after a career in Northern California at the biotechnology giant Genentech, where he pioneered the development of new treatments for angiogenic diseases such as cancer, age-related macular degeneration (AMD), and diabetic retinopathy. At Genentech, he discovered VEGF—and made the first anti-VEGF antibody—which suppresses growth of a variety of tumors. These findings helped lead to development of the first clinically available angiogenesis inhibitor, bevacizumab (Avastin), which prevents the growth of new blood vessels into a solid tumor and which has become part of standard treatment for a variety of cancers. Ferrara's work led also to the development of ranibizumab (Lucentis), a drug that is highly effective at preventing vision loss in intraocular neovascular disorders.

James Donald Halsell Jr. is a retired United States Air Force officer and a former NASA astronaut. He is a veteran of five Space Shuttle missions. In 2016, Halsell was charged with two counts of reckless murder.

Zinaida Greceanîi is a Moldovan politician. She is currently Speaker of the Parliament of Moldova since 8 June 2019. Greceanîi was previously also the Prime Minister of Moldova from 31 March 2008 to 14 September 2009. She is the leader of the Party of Socialists of the Republic of Moldova (PSRM) and was previously a member of the Party of Communists of the Republic of Moldova (PCRM). She was Moldova's first female Prime Minister and was the second female Communist head of government in Europe, the first having been Premier Milka Planinc of Yugoslavia. She has been referred to by her collogues in PSRM as the "Moldovan Margaret Thatcher".

Ruben Santiago-Hudson is an American actor, playwright, and director who has won national awards for his work in all three categories. He is best known for his role of Captain Roy Montgomery from 2009 to 2011 on ABC's Castle. In November 2011 he appeared on Broadway in Lydia R. Diamond's play Stick Fly. In 2013 he starred in the TV series Low Winter Sun, a police drama set in Detroit.

Jennifer Tour Chayes is the University of California, Berkeley Associate Provost for the Division of Computing, Data Science, and Society and Dean of the School of Information. She was formerly a Technical Fellow and Managing Director of Microsoft Research New England in Cambridge, Massachusetts, which she founded in 2008, and Microsoft Research New York City, which she founded in 2012.

Junichi Ihara was in 2019 the Chair of the General Council of the World Trade Organization. He was selected on 7 March 2018. Ihara had held the Chair of the WTODSB in 2017.

August William Ritter Jr. is an American politician and lawyer who served as the 41st Governor of Colorado from 2007 to 2011. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the district attorney for Denver before his election in 2006.