Yes, I believe that it is within the competence of a professor competent in the use of computers and statistics to create such a model.
I'm good with computers too. I can generate a model that says I make a billion dollars in pork futures and retire rich.
No, I don't trust them any further than I can throw them to make an honest and determined effort to ensure that the model is valid.
If people are gullible to believe a scientific study "modeled" to produce a politically correct result, then they deserve the totalitarian impulse that will rob them of their liberty.
I cannot see how a model can isolate one factor in hundreds that produce heart disease. Junk science is taking over. Ayn Rand warned against state sponsored science with the character Dr. Stadler in Atlas Shrugged.
First question. Who paid for the study? Follow the money. It is a shame we don't have many unbiased scientist anymore. Got to make the donors happy so the money keeps coming.