Helmut Otto Hofer (22 October 1912 in Mährisch Weisskirchen, Moravia - 26 July 1989 in Kassel) was an Austrian zoologist and anatomist.

[1][2] Hofer received his Doctor of Philosophy degree from the University of Vienna in 1937.

In 1965 he moved to the Delta Regional Primate Research Center (now the Tulane National Primate Research Center) in Covington, Louisiana, USA, where he remained until his retirement in 1977.

[2] Hofer is known for his contributions to the fields of neuroanatomy, comparative anatomy, paleontology, and primatology,[2][3][4][5] for which he received the Senior Scientist Award from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation in 1974.

[6] In 1958 he introduced the term "circumventricular organs" to describe a group of unusual structures located around the ventricles of the brain.