Harmony-based data integration for distributed single-cell multi-omics data

Large-scale single-cell projects generate rapidly growing datasets, but downstream analysis is often confounded by data sources, requiring data integration methods to do correction. Existing data integration methods typically require data centralization, raising privacy and security concerns. Here, we introduce Federated Harmony, a novel method combining properties of federated learning with Harmony algorithm to integrate decentralized omics data. This approach preserves privacy by avoiding raw data sharing while maintaining integration performance comparable to Harmony. Experiments on various types of single-cell data showcase superior results, highlighting a novel data integration approach for distributed multi-omics data without compromising data privacy or analytical performance.